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Matt Schaub said he wouldn't have a problem with the Texans signing Joe Mays, who took a chunk of his ear off with a hit last year. (MCT/Getty Images)

Hopefully, the confrontations between Joe Mays and Matt Schaub aren't as violent in Houston Texans practices as they were during game action last season.

The Texans signed the linebacker Mays to a one-year contract on Monday, The Houston Chronicle's John McClain reported. The move brings Mays from the Denver Broncos to the same team as Schaub — who he brutally knocked out in a September game last season.

Mays was fined $50,000 and suspended for one game last season after a blindside, helmet-to-helmet hit on Schaub. Schaub was hit so hard that his helmet flew off, taking a chunk of his ear with it.

Mays apologized to Schaub after the incident. The Texans brought in Mays for a tryout on Monday after he was released by the Broncos last week, and Schaub said he wouldn't object to the signing.

"We're way past that. That was gone as soon as we walked off the football field that day," Schaub said, according to ESPN.com. "It's just a physical, hard-nosed game and he's a physical player and that's just part of football. I don't fault him for that ... He's a good player and a good guy so it's definitely water under the bridge."